


compromise is the art of war

by Rigil_Kentauris



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes
Genre: AU where the king and queen know zacharias is emblian, Gen, Pre-Canon, Zacharias & Alfonse & Sharena, cultural erasure, i mean i guess thats basically it thats the tag, lies and deception and intentions and hope, stylized, the violence that is erasing part of yourself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 15:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rigil_Kentauris/pseuds/Rigil_Kentauris
Summary: he's painfully, obviously emblian. they know it from the start.They take him in anyway.They take him anyway.





	compromise is the art of war

**Author's Note:**

> i never ported [this one](https://summoner-kentauris.tumblr.com/post/172082922516/i-got-a-really-nice-comment-on-ao3-which-was) to ao3 cause i just dont think the format translates well, but, oh well. made it a long while ago. march 2018. whew.
> 
> <strike>me, editing this: ah nice, all done</strike>  
<strike>me, realizing there is like no chance anyones gonna read it if i dont make a bang up summary</strike>  
<strike>me:</strike>  
<strike>me: FFFU- _*we'll be right back!*_</strike>
> 
> there are going to be typos. i had just better get over that fact now. sigh.  


the king and queen of askr find him while on a day trip out near the border. they aren't _expecting_ to find anyone out here, in no man's land, but there he is. this scraggly, dirty, scrambled kid, who takes one look at them and just keeps running.

No.

no,_ fleeing,_ the askrans discover a moment later. their retinue collides head on with several emblian… emblian spies? emblian thieves? emblian warriors? they never quite figure it out. by the time the fighting is over, all the emblians are dead.

No.

All of them except one.

someone is missing, they note. the king and queen and all their retinue comb through the forest until they find the kid, stuck halfway up a tree. until they find the very clearly emblian kid stuck halfway up a tree. the long white emblian hair. the burning liquid red emblian eyes. he's screeching in court accented emblian language when the lead of the kingsguard clambers up the tree to get the kid down.

he's painfully, obviously emblian. they know it from the start.

They take him in anyway.

it’s a bad idea, of course it is. gustav tries to talk henriette out of it. henriette tries to talk gustav out of it. they’re both equally guilty in bringing this threat into the castle, but. the kid is just a kid. and given who was chasing him _(who **was** chasing him, they ask themselves every now and again)_, it's likely he’s someone’s inconvenient bastard. some borderlord born with bad luck. poor kid. he’s just a kid.

and he holds on fiercely to the neck of gustav’s horse as they ride along, trying hard not to cry.

he’s just a kid.

compromise is the foundation of every good partnership. he'll stay. the newest of many wards of the castle. the falconer will take him, or the cook, perhaps. nothing dangerous. something secure, but out of the way. enough to give him a home, a start. a chance.

it's a good plan.

too bad it lasts for all of about five minutes.

Alfonse takes to the kid_ immediately._ Sharena too, though she’s hardly old enough to make friends.

oh, how the king and queen know. they shouldn’t let their children hang around with some emblian unknown. there is no sense to it.

and yet...the only time zacharias really talks is around the royal children.

this is how they discover he’s picked up the rudiments of askran language

the kid is smart, the king and queen realize. _very_ smart.

and Alfonse and Sharena do get along with him, so, so well.

compromise, is the foundation of every good relationship. so. they take him aside.

they tell him who he is.

he listens, with wide, revenant red eyes

_emblian,_ they say _(not Enemy)_

they ask him who he wants to be

_askran,_ they offer _(not Emblian)_

Is he too young to understand the choice?

Probably.

Likely.

the king and queen both think, _likely._

but this is the compromise.

and, what is he going to say? no? ha. embla’s already a memory - and not a good one. a fuzzy one. one they imagine he’s hoping will fade. one_ they_ hope will fade. they beg askr for that grace on his behalf.

what is he going to say, no? no. he says yes. of course he says yes. this is home. rather, this is the place where at least someone wants him.

_(no, where someone who is **alive** wants him)_

_(but they never ask about parents, so he never tells them.)  
_

he gets special tutors to teach him askran language, customs, beliefs. some of his fondest earlier childhood memories become those of the queen helping him learn to dye his hair an askran color. of gustav teaching him lancing and Alfonse swordwork, teaching both of them the askran styles.

another compromise: zacharias, while not technically family, is…

well.

close enough, the king and queen think.

assume.

they raise him askran

and this...

this is their first mistake.

this is their first mistake.

and it_ just keeps compounding._

compromise is the foundation of any decent fracture. he never learns emblian. embla comes up in geography class. the tutor, away from the oversight of the king and queen, tells them the horror stories. the _hell._ the death, the dying. the nightmare of what’s been done.

and by who.

Emblians. _(enemies)_

Enemies._ (emblians)_

Not like him.

He’s Askran.

hes home.

hes an askran…

…Until he isn’t anymore.

He wakes up. the dark curse ricochets through his nightmares for the first time

and the second time

and the third time and the fourth time and the

the

the dreams of hurting people-

no. no not people. dreams of hurting-

askrans

_(enemies)_

it’s not even a question

he’s an askran

they raised him like that

the king and queen did

theres no question about what to do, so, he simply tells them.

what else was he supposed to do?

compromise is denial. the king and queen have been denying, _deluding_ themselves, for years. deluding themselves into believing he’s no different than any other kid-

no, that’s not quite true, is it?

they’ve been trying to delude themselves into believing they _don’t_ think he’s different.

it’s ‘raise him an askran’

not ‘raise him a kid’

its raise him an askran because he is an emblian

he’s got the hair, you see

and he watches with those trembling red eyes.

theres no question about what to do. he tells them the truth about how he feels, or really, he tells them how he doesn’t feel, but rather what his nightmares are telling him how to feel. its complicated. they don’t understand. they’ve never understood.

they’ve never understood emblians, that is

_(emblians = enemies)_

_(this is the archetype)_

_(there is no other)_

compromise is the thin threading together of truths. they don’t understand these horrible things he is saying, yet they have to find a way to understand.

they come to a conclusion. they come to the terribly flawed conclusion, that their conclusion is terribly flawed.

they _do_ understand, they think.

an askran would never feel this way.

An Askran would _never_ feel this way.

an emblian, though…

Time to rethink. compromise: to cause the impairment of. they can't have him compromising the children so they separate them right away - though their son and daughter are grown enough to fight back, now. _he’s our friend!_

no he isn’t, they think

and rethink. compromised: unable to function optimally, especially with regard to immune response

the dreams get worse _(it’s the separation. they've taken away the only ones who have truly never thought **enemy**)_

Rethink compromise - to expose or make liable to danger.

he can’t take it

he has to see them

he _has_ to see them, so they sneak out on patrol

they meaning he and the royal children.

they meaning he

-and the voices in his head with the sound of old dark gods telling him to hurt his enemies-

-and the voices in his head with the sound of new kings and queens telling him he isn’t askran anymore-

they meaning he and his voices.

he's compromised and they knew it. broken into too many pieces and he can't take it, those voices that redefine his enemies and those voices telling him to hurt his enemies loud and louder and louder until they combine-

_(along with the dread of losing another home, another family, another **self**)_

_(another life, so long ago)  
_

_(they dont ask about parents and he doesn’t tell them)_

zacharias and alfonse and sharena, all together, they go out on patrol and the king and queens’ compromises crystallize into one moment. one moment. one little moment where zacharias is just another moment away from killing the only two people left who really, truly love him

they taught him well

they taught him oh so well, didn't they.

the king and queen’s mistake lead zacharias a hairline fracture distance away from killing alfonse

and by all rights…

he should have

but…

but.

no.

he doesn’t.

You see…

Part one: for all their efforts and for all the doubts they had and will always have, after that night-

he’s still askran

_(enough)_

he’s askran enough to say _this is my family_

Part two: for all their efforts and for all the doubts they once suppressed before that night-

he’s still emblian

_(enough)_

he’s emblian enough to say _this isn’t home_

_(who was chasing him? the queen and king of askr will ask themselves every now and again) _

they taught zacharias well but…what they taught him and what he learned are not the same

and they should be so, so proud of him

and they should so, so clearly be able to see why

only-

They aren’t.

And they don’t.

all they’ve ever really seen is an emblian, running from something-

and that’s all they ever will.

**Author's Note:**

> ifeel sad now. why did i do this to me.
> 
> <strike>you have no idea how badly i wanted to put a graphic depictions of violence tag on this because i think this is graphic depictions of, if not physical violence, then at _least_ cultural or emotional violence. but. thats not what the tag is for so. alas.</strike>


End file.
